Easter 2012

JOHN 20:1-9

HAPPY EASTER TO EVERYONE. EASTER IS THE GREATEST CELEBRATION FOR CHRISTIANS.

I THINK IF YOU GREW UP IN THIS COUNTRY, AS I DID, YOU WENT THROUGH A TIME WHEN YOU BELIEVED CHRISTMAS WAS THE GREATEST CELEBRATION. IN MY FAMILY BACK IN MONTANA, EASTER ALWAYS SEEMED A PALE IMITATION OF CHRISTMAS. THERE WERE THE PURPLE AND WHITE COLORS; THERE WERE THE FLOWERS; THERE WAS THE EASTER SUPPER WITH FAMILY GATHERED AROUND; BUT THERE WEREN'T MANY PRESENTS, AND THEY TENDED TO BE NEW CLOTHES, EGGS, AND CANDY. THE EASTER BUNNY COULDN'T HOLD A CANDLE TO SANTA CLAUS.

BUT AS WE GET OLDER, ESPECIALLY WHEN WE GET REALLY OLD, LIKE ME, EASTER BEGINS TO SHOW IT'S TRUE COLORS. IT IS, AFTER ALL, THE REASON CHRISTMAS MEANS ANYTHING; IT IS, AFTER ALL, WHY PENTECOST IS CELEBRATED. WITHOUT EASTER, NONE OF THE OTHER FEASTS WE CELEBRATE AS CHRISTIANS, NOT EVEN OUR SUNDAY SERVICES, WOULD MEAN A THING.

AND EVERY EASTER WE REMEMBER SOMETHING WE CAN HARDLY BELIEVE, THAT SOMEONE WHO WAS DEAD, REALLY DEAD, ROSE FROM THE DEAD.

WE HAVE A HARD TIME GETTING OUR MINDS AROUND THIS. MANY CHRISTIANS SIMPLY DENY A PHYSICAL RESURRECTION. THEY SAY THINGS LIKE “THE APOSTLES BECAME AWARE OF HIS PRESENCE AND IT CHANGED THEM.” OTHER CHRISTIANS SAY THAT JESUS RETURNED IN A GHOSTLY FORM. HE COULD WALK THROUGH WALLS, AND APPEAR AND DISAPPEAR, AND CERTAINLY THOSE CAN'T BE DONE BY A REGULAR BODY, RIGHT? BUT I THINK THAT MOST CHRISTIANS WOULD ADMIT TO BELIEF IN A REAL RESURRECTION. BUT I THINK IT IS MUCH HARDER TO BELIEVE IN A REAL DEATH. AFTER ALL, JESUS IS GOD; CAN GOD DIE? WHEN THE BODY OF JESUS BREATHED IT'S LAST, DIDN'T THE SOUL OF JESUS, THE DIVINE PART, PROCEED TO THE AFTERLIFE, WHERE THE SOULS OF THE JUST WERE, SO THAT HE COULD SET THEM FREE? AFTER ALL, THAT'S WHAT WE SAY IN THE APOSTLE'S CREED. IT'S AS THOUGH FOR JESUS DYING ON THE CROSS, HORRIBLE AS IT WAS, WAS JUST AN INCONVENIENCE.

THE EARLY CHRISTIANS DIDN'T THINK LIKE WE DO, IN TERMS OF BODIES AND SOULS. THERE WAS A LOT OF SPECULATION AMONG THE PEOPLE OF THAT TIME ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED WHEN YOU DIED. EVEN IN THE OLD TESTAMENT, IT ISN'T CLEAR. THE PATRIARCHS BELIEVED THAT WHEN YOU WERE DEAD, YOU WERE DEAD, AND YOU LIVED ON IN YOUR CHILDREN. AT THE TIME OF KING SAUL, THERE WAS BELIEF THAT SOME PART OF YOU LIVED ON; AFTER ALL, SAUL SUMMONED THE SPIRIT OF SAMUEL TO TELL HIS FUTURE. LATER ON THE PROPHETS, ESPECIALLY PEOPLE LIKE EZECHIEL AND DANIEL, BEGAN TO TALK ABOUT RESURRECTION; PEOPLE BEING BROUGHT BACK FROM THE DEAD TO A BODILY EXISTENCE. JESUS HIMSELF DOESN'T MAKE THINGS CLEAR; HE DOES ALLUDE TO PARADISE WHEN HE TELLS THE THIEF ON THE CROSS “TODAY YOU WILL BE WITH ME IN PARADISE”. HE REFERS TO GOING AWAY TO PREPARE A PLACE FOR HIS FOLLOWERS. HE TALKS ABOUT HIS SECOND COMING, COMING FROM HEAVEN WITH ANGELS AND TRUMPET BLASTS; AND HE IMPLIES THAT HE BELIEVES IN THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD WHEN HE SPEAKS WITH MARTHA ABOUT THE DEATH OF LAZARUS.

BUT WHATEVER WE WANT TO THINK ABOUT THE AFTERLIFE, THERE ARE TWO THINGS WE DO BELIEVE. JESUS REALLY DIED, AND HE REALLY ROSE FROM THE DEAD. HIS DEATH HAD TO BE LIKE OUR OWN; NOT A SMOOTH TRANSITION TO A GLORIOUS AFTERLIFE, BUT THE LITERAL LOSS OF SELF THAT WE ALL WILL EXPERIENCE WHEN WE DIE. AND OF COURSE THERE IS NO WAY YOU AND I CAN UNDERSTAND HOW GOD CAN DIE, BUT IF HE DIDN'T DIE LIKE WE DIE, THEN HE WASN'T LIKE US IN ALL THINGS BUT SIN. AND THAT IS WHY HE CRIED OUT ON THE CROSS, “MY GOD, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?” THOSE OF US WHO ARE BELIEVERS CAN RELATE TO THAT. NO MATTER WHAT WE BELIEVE ABOUT DEATH AND THE LIFE TO COME, WE WILL FEEL GOD'S SEEMING ABANDONMENT WHEN WE LOSE OUR VERY SELVES, WHEN DEATH COMES.

BUT JESUS ROSE AGAIN. AND THEOLOGIANS HAVE SPECULATED AS TO WHETHER HE ROSE UNDER HIS OWN POWER OR WAS “RAISED UP” BY THE FATHER, BUT THIS DOESN'T MATTER MUCH. THE REAL POINT IS THAT YOU CANNOT READ THE NEW TESTAMENT WITHOUT SEEING WHAT A STRIKING, EARTH-SHAKING, STUPENDOUS EVENT THIS WAS TO THE PEOPLE WHO WITNESSED IT. IT WAS NO MORE EASY TO BELIEVE THEN THAN IT IS NOW. MARY MAGDALINE, WHO KNEW HIM VERY WELL, COULD NOT RECOGNIZE HIM UNTIL HE CALLED HER NAME. THOMAS REFUSED TO BELIEVE UNTIL JESUS HELD OUT HIS HANDS AND ASKED HIM TO PROBE THE NAIL HOLES. THE APOSTLES IN THE UPPER ROOM WERE NEARLY FRIGHTENED OUT OF THEIR MINDS WHEN HE APPEARED AMONG THEM. THE DISCIPLES ON THE WAY TO EMMAEUS THOUGHT HE WAS JUST ANOTHER TRAVELER UNTIL HE BROKE THE BREAD – BECAUSE YOUR MIND WILL DENY THE EVIDENCE OF YOUR SENSES IF THE EVIDENCE MAKES NO SENSE AT ALL. ALL THESE APPEARANCES OF JESUS HAVE IN COMMON THAT HE WAS A SURPRISE, HE WAS UNEXPECTED, HE WAS MIND-BOGGLING, EVEN THOUGH HE HAD PREDICTED THAT HE WOULD RISE FROM THE DEAD.

SO WHAT DOES THAT HAVE TO DO WITH US, ANYWAY? FIRST, IT PROVES THAT WHAT JESUS SAID BEFORE HE DIED WAS TRUE. HE REALLY CAN GO AND PREPARE A PLACE FOR HIS FOLLOWERS; HE REALLY WON'T LEAVE US ORPHANS; HE REALLY WILL CALL US FORTH, LIKE HE DID LAZARUS.

SECOND, HE OVERCAME DEATH BECAUSE OF LOVE. SCRIPTURE TELLS US THAT LOVE IS STRONGER THAN DEATH, AND JESUS TALKED ABOUT THE GREATEST LOVE OF ALL, THE LOVE IN WHICH ONE LAYS DOWN ONE'S LIFE FOR A FRIEND. AND SAINT PAUL OBSERVES “VERY RARELY WILL ANYONE DIE FOR A RIGHTEOUS MAN, THOUGH FOR A GOOD MAN SOMEONE MIGHT POSSIBLY DARE TO DIE.” AND HE GOES ON TO MARVEL THAT JESUS DIED FOR US WHEN WE WERE NOT AT ALL GOOD, WHEN WE WERE STILL IN SIN.

JESUS LOVES US WITH A LOVE STRONG ENOUGH TO OVERCOME OUR DEATH. HE TOLD HIS FOLLOWERS THAT HE WOULD BE IN THEM, AND THEY WOULD BE IN HIM. AND HE TOLD THEM THAT IF THEY OBEYED HIS COMMANDMENTS, THEY WOULD LIVE IN HIS LOVE, JUST AS HE LIVED IN HIS FATHER'S LOVE. JESUS' LOVE IS SO STRONG IT CAN GIVE US LIFE.

SO EASTER IS THE CELEBRATION OF NOT ONLY THE FACT THAT JESUS ROSE FROM THE DEAD, BUT THAT YOU AND I WILL AS WELL. BECAUSE LOVE IS STRONGER THAN DEATH, AND JESUS LOVES YOU AND I SO MUCH THAT HE WAS WILLING TO LAY DOWN HIS LIFE FOR US. AND THAT IS THE REASON WE CAN SAY TO EACH OTHER “HAPPY EASTER!”

Good Friday, 2012

JOHN 18:1 – 19:42

BY DEFINITION CHRISTIANS BELIEVE CERTAIN THINGS. THEY BELIEVE THAT CHRIST WAS GOD AND MAN, AND THEY BELIEVE THAT HUMAN BEINGS ARE ONLY SAVED BECAUSE OF HIS DEATH ON THE CROSS. AND IN OUR PRAYERS, WE SAY THINGS LIKE “DYING, HE DESTROYED OUR DEATH”. GREAT THEOLOGIANS HAVE COME UP WITH MANY DIFFERENT THEORIES ABOUT HOW THIS WORKS. THE TWO BIG ONES ARE FIRST, THAT JESUS RANSOMS US FROM SATAN, WHO OWNS US AS A CONSEQUENCE OF THE SIN OF ADAM AND EVE. SATAN ACCEPTS THIS TRADE, BUT IS FOOLED BECAUSE HE CAN HAVE NO HOLD ON JESUS, WHO IS SINLESS. THE SECOND IS THAT JESUS DIES IN OUR PLACE, BECAUSE THAT SATISFIES GOD THE FATHER FOR THE SINS WE HAVE COMMITTED. I'M NOT SURE I LIKE EITHER THEORY. THE FIRST IMPLIES THAT SATAN IS THE RIVAL OF GOD, WHEN EVEN IN HELL HE IS STILL GOD'S CREATURE, AND CAN DO NOTHING WITHOUT GOD'S PERMISSION; THE SECOND SUGGESTS THAT THE FATHER IS LIKE ONE OF THOSE VOLCANO GODS OF THE SOUTH PACIFIC, DEMANDING A HUMAN SACRIFICE IN ORDER TO KEEP HIS TEMPER UNDER CONTROL. BUT IT IS A GOOD QUESTION. HOW IS IT THAT THE DEATH OF CHRIST, THIS HORRIBLE DEATH WHICH WE'VE JUST HEARD ABOUT, SOMEHOW MAKES IT POSSIBLE FOR ME TO ENTER ETERNAL LIFE?

I GREW UP IN MONTANA, AND OUR CATHEDRAL WAS NAMED AFTER SAINT HELENA. IT HAD IN A RELIQUARY A FRAGMENT OF THE TRUE CROSS. AS YOU MAY KNOW, SAINT HELENA, THE MOTHER OF CONSTANTINE, SPENT A LOT OF MONEY AND TIME IN AN ATTEMPT TO FIND THE TRUE CROSS. SHE EVENTUALLY RETURNED HOME WITH A LARGE PIECE OF WOOD WHICH SHE HAD FOUND, AND THE AUTHORITIES AGREED THAT IT WAS THE TRUE CROSS, AND SMALL FRAGMENTS WERE DETACHED AND SENT ALL OVER THE WORLD. SOMEONE ONCE REMARKED THAT IF ALL THE FRAGMENTS COULD BE GATHERED TOGETHER AND REASSEMBLED, THE CROSS WOULD BE TALLER THAN THE TALLEST REDWOOD. BUT THE IMPULSE TO HAVE AT HAND A RELIC OF THE CROSS IS A GOOD ONE; IN SOME WAY IT PUTS US IN TOUCH WITH JESUS.

AND THAT'S WHY WE VENERATE THIS CROSS TODAY – IT IS A SYMBOL OF THE CROSS ON WHICH JESUS DIED.

BUT THERE MAY BE BETTER SYMBOLS. IF YOU GO DOWN ALONG THE CONNECTICUT RIVER, YOU MIGHT FIND A LEAN-TO MADE OF DISCARDED BOARDS IN WHICH A BROTHER LIVES. THAT'S THE CROSS. IF THROUGH YOUR SELFISHNESS OR ANGER OR NEGLECT YOU'VE CAUSED SOMEONE YOU LOVE TO SUFFER, WELL, THERE'S THE CROSS. IF YOU'VE BEEN TOO BUSY TO VISIT SOMEONE WHO IS SICK OR SHUT IN OR LONELY, SOMEONE YOU USED TO KNOW AND LOVE, THERE'S THE CROSS AGAIN.

MAYBE OUR CHURCH IS THE CROSS. YOU AND I HAVE NEIGHBORS WHO HAVE BEEN MADE BROTHERS AND SISTERS OF CHRIST THROUGH BAPTISM, NEIGHBORS WHO HAVE RECEIVED JESUS IN THE EUCHARIST, NEIGHBORS WHO HAVE DROPPED OUT AND NO LONGER GATHER TOGETHER WITH US AROUND THIS ALTAR. WHEN WE DON'T CARE, WHEN WE DON'T ASK WHY, WHEN WE DON'T INVITE THEM BACK, THERE'S THE CROSS.

MAYBE WE'VE VOTED FOR SOMEONE WHO PROMISES ALL THE RIGHT THINGS EXCEPT TO BE IN FAVOR OF ABORTION; AND WE SAY, THE GOOD OUTWEIGHS THE BAD. MAYBE AMONG THOSE CHILDREN WHO WILL NEVER LIVE, NEVER KNOW LOVE, MAYBE IF WE LOOK HARD, WE WILL SEE THAT THERE IS THE CROSS.

JESUS SPENT MANY YEARS OF HIS LIFE AS A CHILD, A YOUNG MAN, A CARPENTER; THAT DID NOT SAVE US. JESUS SPENT HIS PUBLIC MINISTRY TEACHING AND HEALING AND GATHERING TOGETHER A GROUP OF PEOPLE WHO LATER BECAME THE CHURCH; THAT DID NOT SAVE US. BUT WHEN JESUS WAS CONDEMNED AND NAILED TO THE CROSS, WHEN HE WAS HELPLESS AND WRITHING IN PAIN, WHEN HE KNEW WITH CERTAINTY THAT HE WOULD DIE, REALLY DIE, AND WHEN HE DID DIE, BE DEAD AS DEAD CAN BE, NOT SORT OF HOVERING OVER A DEAD BODY LIKE A GHOST, NOT RETIRING INTO THE TRINITY TO AWAIT THE RESURRECTION – THAT WAS WHEN JESUS SAVED US.

IT SAYS IN OUR CREED THAT HE DESCENDED INTO HELL. WE ARE TOLD THAT THE WORD REALLY MEANT THE AFTERLIFE, WHERE THE SOULS OF THE JUST AWAITED HIM. BUT I THINK HE REALLY DID DESCEND INTO AN ALL TOO FAMILIAR HELL, THE HELL OF TORMENT, OF NEGLECT, OF NOT HAVING ENOUGH TO EAT, OF BEING TORTURED, OF BEING IMPRISONED, OF BEING A REFUGEE, A RAPE VICTIM, A TEENAGER WHO IS BULLIED INTO COMMITTING SUICIDE, A WIFE OR HUSBAND IN A LOVELESS MARRIAGE, THE HELL OF A PARENT WHO LOSES A CHILD.

JESUS TOLD PHILIP “IF YOU SEE ME, YOU HAVE SEEN THE FATHER”. AND HE ALSO TELLS US THAT WHAT WE DO FOR THE LEAST OF OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS WE DO FOR HIM.

SO HOW DOES JESUS SAVE? IT'S NOT ROCKET SCIENCE. FROM THE CROSS HE INVITES US TO JOIN HIM. HE CALLS US TO COME TO HIM. HE SAYS, “WHERE I AM, THERE MY SERVANT SHALL BE.” HE TELLS US THAT THE MEASURE WITH WHICH WE MEASURE, THAT WILL BE THE MEASURE THAT WILL BE USED FOR US. HE LOOKS DOWN FROM THE CROSS AT OUR LACK OF CONCERN, OUR BLINDNESS TOWARDS THE POOR, THE SUFFERING, THE UNBORN, THE LONELY, THE AGED, AND HE SAYS “FATHER, FORGIVE THEM, FOR THEY DO NOT KNOW WHAT THEY DO.”

JESUS BECOMES MAN, BUT NOT JUST ANY MAN. JESUS BECOMES MAN WHO IS REJECTED, WHO IS IN PAIN, WHO IS CUT OFF, WHO IS HUNGRY AND THIRSTY AND WITHOUT SHELTER, WHO IS PUT TO DEATH BEFORE BEING BORN. THAT MAN ON THE CROSS IS ALL THAT. WE ARE SO USED TO OUR BEAUTIFUL CRUCIFIXES THAT WE FORGET THE REALITY, THE REPULSIVENESS OF HIS DEATH, NAKED, BLEEDING, WRITHING, CRYING OUT IN PAIN; THE SWEAT OF DEATH POURING DOWN OVER HIS FACE.

AND HE SAYS, “COME TO ME, EASE MY PAIN, MY SUFFERING, RELIEVE MY LONELINESS, HOLD ME AS I AM DYING – JOIN ME ON MY CROSS – AND WHEN YOU DO, YOU WILL RISE WITH ME.” AND THAT IS HOW HE SAVES US.